He pushed me backward into my apartment and against the wall as the intensity of our kiss grew. It lasted for a good five minutes until…
…he grabbed my left breast and I freaked out.
I manuevered myself away from him. “I’m sorry, Mason. I can’t do this.”
He grinned at me and said, “I didn’t mean to rush you. We can take our time getting to know each other.”
I grinned back at him. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”
“So how about we start with a real date. Not one where we just happen to end up in the same place but one where we actually leave here together and come back here together.”
“That sounds original.”
We both laughed.
“Dinner. Tomorrow night. Seven o’clock. How does that sound?”
“Like a winning proposition.”
Mason kissed me on the forehead. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
I climbed back into bed and fell asleep dreaming about Mason.
jude
BITCH!
17
November 1994
Tenth Grade
Pembroke Pines, Florida
Henry Pierce paced the kitchen floor, waiting for his wife to come back inside from the garage. Meredith came in carrying a large turkey that she had retrieved from the chest freezer.
“This turkey’s a little small but I think we’ll make do,” she said.
“How many people do we have coming over for Thanksgiving dinner?” Henry asked.
“About a dozen.”
Henry sighed and sat down at the table. “Why is it that everyone always gathers at our house for holiday dinners? Don’t they ever entertain at their homes?”
“Henry, that’s not fair. You know my family members entertain from time to time. It’s just that we live in the most central location and that makes it easier for everyone to get together.”
Henry smirked. “If you say so, but I think it has more to do with us footing the grocery bill than anything else.”
Meredith didn’t comment. They both knew it was a true statement. While Meredith tried to act as if she “came from money,” that couldn’t have been further from the truth. She’d grown up dirt-poor, the daughter of two janitors who favored being addressed as environmental engineers. She had two older sisters who were golddiggers, which explained why Meredith was one herself. Unfortunately, her sisters hadn’t landed a wealthy man. Meredith seduced Henry one night while he was too drunk to know better, they had a whirlwind romance, and were forced to marry after Meredith became pregnant.
Henry had long recovered from the fact that Meredith had trapped him by lying and saying she was on the pill. After it was all over, said and done, he found out that she’d never taken a birth control pill, rather less had a prescription for one, in her entire life. Henry wasn’t rich by anyone’s standards but compared to Meredith’s family, he was Donald Trump.
“Whatever, Meredith,” Henry said. “That’s not what I want to talk to you about anyway.”
Meredith put the turkey in the sink and ran hot water over it to begin thawing it out for dinner the next day. “Well, we have to talk while I’m cooking. It’s getting late and I still have to rinse my greens and get them on, cut up the potatoes for my salad tomorrow, and bake a couple of pumpkin pies.”
“Good grief! You act like we’re feeding an army!”
Meredith snickered. “Hell, Henry, you know how my family eats.”
Henry cleared his throat and pulled his chair up closer to the table so he could rest his elbows. “Meredith, we need to have a serious talk about Jonquinette.”
Meredith paused and stood still before facing him, leaning her hips against the sink. “What about her?”
“We can’t keep ignoring her behavior. All these years, we’ve made excuses for her actions but something has to be done immediately before it gets out of hand. I don’t even know what I’m saying. Things have already gotten out of hand and you’re not helping matters any.”
Meredith said, “Jonquinette’s just fine. She’s the typical teenage girl. Her hormones are raging and she’s going through major changes.”
Henry shook his head. He stood up and grabbed Meredith by the shoulders. “Jonquinette’s anything but typical, Meredith. You and I both know it.”
Meredith yanked herself free in anger. “I refuse to stand here and listen to this nonsense.”
Henry got a glass out of the cabinet, turned on the faucet, and filled it with cool water. He took a sip and contemplated his next move. “Meredith, I wanted to believe Jonquinette was normal just as much as you. Hell, even more. But we’ve got to get her some help.”
“Help? What kind of help?”
“She needs to see a specialist. A psychiatrist.”
“You’ve lost your damn mind,” Meredith said. “Jonquinette isn’t crazy; you are.”
“Now, Meredith, I’m not saying the girl is crazy. I’m saying, at the very least, she’s extremely confused.” Henry started pacing the floor. “There’s just something that doesn’t sit right about all of this.”
“The only thing Jonquinette needs is a decent boyfriend. She’s at the age where she should start dating.” Meredith turned on the oven and then sat down at the table. “If you really want to do something for Jonquinette, spend more time with her. She still has to log another thirty hours of driving with her learner’s permit before she can get her license in January. She also needs to improve her computer science grade and being that you’re a programmer, I would think you could help her out with that.”
Henry didn’t appreciate the sarcasm lingering in Meredith’s voice. “This isn’t about driving or some damn computer. This is about doing something before Jonquinette seriously hurts herself or someone else.”
“Where is this all coming from?” Meredith asked apprehensively. “Granted, she’s had episodes in the past but nothing lately.”
Henry lowered his eyes to the floor.
“Henry, nothing lately, right?”
“I guess not,” he replied. “I just have this gut feeling that this is the calm before the storm.”
Meredith got up and touched his hand. “Henry Pierce, you and I have been through hell together over the past two decades and we’ve always survived. We’ll survive this, too, whatever it is.”
Henry hugged Meredith snugly. “I love both of you so much. I just want us to have a happy family.”
“We do have a happy family, Henry.”
“If you say so, but—”
Meredith pulled away from his embrace and glared at him.
“But what?”
“I still plan to call someone on Monday. Just to see what they say.”
“Someone like who?”
Henry shrugged. “I guess I’ll start with the Health and Human Services Department. They should be able to recommend someone.”
Meredith rolled her eyes and slammed a pot down on the stove. She didn’t say another word.
Jonquinette tiptoed back upstairs without either one of them knowing she’d heard the entire conversation.
18
Thanksgiving Day, 1994
Three A.M.
Jude had waited until both Henry and Meredith were fast asleep before sneaking out of bed. She threw on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt, and a pair of raggedy sneakers and then eased her way out of the house into the garage. She winced when she pushed the button for the door to rise. It was a dicey move because there was a noisy vibration. Her room was directly over the garage and she always heard it but wasn’t sure whether it was audible in the master bedroom.